Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 22517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
He’s so goddamn strong.
I feel a flash of fur tearing through my skin before I rein him back in.
“Not in here, please,” Leo says as he steps protectively in front of Tara. “We just had the floors redone.”
I force my eyes open and see Tara’s worried face. She’s nervous for me, not about the floors, but I still don’t want to ruin her cabin. She was so excited when they put in hardwood floors last month.
I turn and head for the door.
My legs feel like there’s concrete in them. Every move is hard when my grizzly is raging like this.
Michael rushes over and opens the door for me.
The rain comes slamming into the room, stinging wet. It’s dark out even though it’s only six o’clock in the summer. Those nasty storm clouds are smothering out the sun.
“Are you going to be okay?” my oldest brother asks as I face the storm.
“Same old, same old,” I grunt, putting on a brave face as I force my heavy legs outside. I’m immediately drenched. The rain soaks me to the bone.
“Can we… finish the game without you?” Michael asks as he’s about to close the door.
I turn to him with my chest and shoulders flexed. My eyes are probably glowing golden right now. I can feel my teeth pushing out against my lips. “Yeah,” I grunt.
“Okay, thanks,” he says. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He closes the door, leaving me outside. My grizzly snarls as rain pours down my face.
I glance in the window as I head toward the forest.
Michael and Leo are back at the table, cleaning up the spilled wine and putting the trains back on the board. They put my trains in the box and put my cards back in the pile. Tara is watching me. She gives me a sad wave as she watches me go.
I can’t blame my brothers for acting this way. They’ve been living with this all their lives too. Every lightning storm, my bear goes crazy and flees into the forest. They go on with their lives and I return with the sun.
It’s the same thing every time.
There’s nothing they can do about it. Hell, there’s nothing I can do about it.
It’s not like I can drag my seven-hundred-pound grizzly bear into a therapist’s office and have him talk it out.
We just have to go through it. Every single time.
The rainstorms aren’t usually this bad though.
The wind picks up, whipping the trees into a frenzy. Loud cracks and pops fill the air as large branches snap off trunks and crash to the ground.
The sky lights up in a beautiful haunting blue for a split second. I tense up as I wait for it.
The accompanying boom of thunder hits my ears.
And there’s no more holding my bear back.
He bursts out of my body in an untamed rage.
I’m pulled inside as he explodes out, roaring viciously at the world.
Another crash of thunder and he sprints into the forest.
At least, I’m dry now.
I’m watching from inside as he tears through the forest with his heart racing and his mind spinning.
His eyes are bulging. His nostrils are flaring. He stops every few feet and whips his head around with his whole body trembling.
Thunder cracks again. He explodes forward and takes down a small tree when he accidentally sprints into it.
As annoying and frustrating as my grizzly bear is, I do feel bad for him.
It’s hard to feel this level of terror and not feel bad.
Maybe one day, he’ll calm down.
Maybe one day, he’ll lose this sharp edge.
Thunder explodes over the forest once again. He thrusts his head into the air—rain slamming down on his face—and lets out a terrified rage-filled roar.
I sigh as I watch helplessly from inside.
Maybe one day this will all be over.
But not today…
three
. . .
Layla
“You like that, you nasty-little slut?” Antoine growls as he grips a fistful of my hair. I moan like his dirty whore as he drags the thick head of his cock over my lips. “You’re going to swallow all of my hot cum. Every. Fucking. Drop.”
My soaked pussy aches as I slip my tongue out and taste him. He tastes like—
“Oh no,” I whimper as I turn my audiobook off. I put it on about twenty minutes ago to help calm me down, but it’s not really working.
It’s hard to stay calm when the rain is coming down on my windshield with the force of a pressure washer.
I’m deep in the mountains now. I don’t see anything but trees, dark clouds, and rain. This is not good.
My stupid GPS said this route would save me seventeen minutes, although it failed to mention that I’d be traveling through the goddamn mountains on a muddy road instead of on the concrete highway surrounded by civilization.
“Ah!” I scream when a deafening crack of lightning erupts over my head.